This is the news from Thursday 1 October. Read the latest news
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OpenAI’s GPT-6.1 Sol and dots, a Chrome 154 fix and more
Today in 30 seconds
- OpenAI’s GPT-6.1 Sol nearly matches Astra at a fifth of the price
- OpenAI launches dots, always-on agents, and Sign in with ChatGPT
- Chrome 154 update fixes 33 security flaws, one of them critical
- TeamViewer 15.82 fixes five serious flaws on Windows, Mac and Linux
- AI coding agents put 13,000 private screenshots on public GitHub
- Cloudflare wants to issue free SSL certificates like Let’s Encrypt
- Google pays about 100 publishers for AI answers, at 0.1% of ad revenue
- Google Maps now asks you to sign in to read all reviews
- Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick 4K adds Wi-Fi 6 and a better remote
Good morning. OpenAI held DevDay, and it came with more than 20 announcements. I picked the ones that matter for your website. There are also a few updates to install, so grab a coffee first.
OpenAI’s GPT-6.1 Sol nearly matches Astra at a fifth of the price
OpenAI released GPT-6.1 Sol at DevDay on 29 September. OpenAI says it comes close to GPT-6 Astra on coding and computer use. It costs one fifth of Astra’s standard token prices.
OpenAI says the factual error rate at low reasoning effort fell from 11.4% to 7.7%. Cached input costs US$0.10 per million tokens. In ChatGPT, Sol is in ChatGPT Work and Codex for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu users. It is also on the API.
Why it matters If your site uses AI for chat, search or content, this could cut your bill a lot. Test it on your own prompts before you switch. I care more about how it handles your real tasks than about the charts.
OpenAI launches dots, always-on agents, and Sign in with ChatGPT
OpenAI also launched dots, AI agents that run all day inside ChatGPT. Each dot has its own cloud computer and browser. It can connect to more than 4,000 apps and work on tasks without being asked each time.
Dots run on GPT-6 Astra and come with the Pro and Business Premium plans. OpenAI also launched Sign in with ChatGPT with 16 partners, including Notion and Vercel. People can log in to those apps with their ChatGPT account and share their AI allowance.
Why it matters Agents like these will visit and use websites for people. Clear pages and forms that work without tricks will matter more. And if you build an app, a ChatGPT login may soon be a normal button next to Google and Apple.
Chrome 154 update fixes 33 security flaws, one of them critical
Google released Chrome 154.0.8037.92 and .93 for desktop on 29 September. It fixes 33 security flaws. One is critical, CVE-2026-102331, a buffer overflow in the ANGLE graphics layer. 23 more are rated high.
Google has not said that any of them are being used in attacks. The Android version got the same fixes.
Why it matters A critical browser bug is worth fixing now, before details go public. Open Chrome, go to Settings, then About Chrome, and restart. Edge, Brave and Opera use the same engine, so update them too when their fixes arrive.
TeamViewer 15.82 fixes five serious flaws on Windows, Mac and Linux
TeamViewer fixed five high-severity flaws in its Full Client and Host apps on 30 September. The worst, CVE-2026-92370, can bypass access controls in a remote session and run code. Others can give a local attacker system or root access.
The fix is TeamViewer 15.82, plus updated maintenance and legacy releases. TeamViewer says it has seen no attacks so far. It still asks all users to update as soon as possible.
Why it matters Remote access tools are a favourite way into small businesses. If you or your IT person use TeamViewer, update it today. Remove it from any machine that no longer needs it.
AI coding agents put 13,000 private screenshots on public GitHub
Security firm Glow found more than 13,000 internal images from over 300 organisations in public GitHub repositories. They include billing records and screens of unreleased features. AI coding agents uploaded them while sharing screenshots for code reviews.
Until 1 September, the GitHub command-line tool could not attach images to pull requests. So some agents made a separate public repository, often under the developer’s own account. About a third of the affected organisations used an open-source tool called gitshot.
Why it matters An agent will find a way around a limit, even a bad way. Search your team’s personal GitHub accounts for repositories named “gitshot-images”. Then stop agents from making public repositories without a human saying yes.
Cloudflare wants to issue free SSL certificates like Let’s Encrypt
Cloudflare said on 29 September that it plans to become a public certificate authority. It has applied to the Chrome, Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla root programs. It also agreed to buy an established root from GlobalSign.
The certificates will be free and automated with ACME, the same system Let’s Encrypt uses. Cloudflare says switching will mean changing one directory URL, with no new tools. It aims to issue post-quantum Merkle Tree Certificates in early 2027.
Why it matters Most sites rely on one free certificate provider today. A second big free option means less risk if that provider has a bad day. Nothing changes for you yet, so there is nothing to do.
Google pays about 100 publishers for AI answers, at 0.1% of ad revenue
Google is paying about 100 publishers in a pilot when their content helps shape AI answers. That covers AI Overviews, AI Mode and Gemini. The Information reports the payments are about one tenth of 1% of a publisher’s ad revenue.
Some small sites earned less than US$1,000 over several months. One publisher reportedly earns over US$1 million a year. Some publishers say the numbers change each month without a clear reason.
Why it matters This is small money for now, and it is invite only. Still, Google now pays by how much a source contributes to an AI answer. Clear, well-organised pages are how you get picked. My guide on how AI search finds your site covers the basics.
Google Maps now asks you to sign in to read all reviews
Google Maps now asks people to sign in to a Google account to read every review on a business. Sorting reviews and leaving feedback on them also need a login. Several local SEO experts spotted the change on 30 September.
Google’s message says signed-in users can “read and search through every review and photo”. Search Engine Roundtable thinks the goal is to stop AI tools and bots from scraping reviews.
Why it matters Visitors who are not signed in will see fewer of your reviews. Make sure your best recent reviews are easy to find. It is also a good time to show a few real reviews on your own site.
Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick 4K adds Wi-Fi 6 and a better remote
Amazon launched a slimmer Fire TV Stick 4K on 30 September. It has Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 and 8GB of storage. It can take power from your TV’s USB port, so you may not need a wall plug.
The new remote has a microphone button you can find by touch and a favourites button for your main app. It launches in 12 countries, including Australia. The US launch price is US$29.99, and the remote sells alone from late October.
Why it matters It is a cheap way to make an old TV feel new again. I like the programmable button most. One less trip through the menus is a win.
Quick hits
- Citrix NetScaler CVE-2026-88772 attacks now plant web shells, so patch and check your httpd.conf files. The Hacker News
- OpenSSL fixed a high-severity DTLS memory leak in 4.0.3, 3.6.5, 3.5.9 and 3.4.8. The Hacker News
- Custom GPTs were used to push fake Cloudflare checks, and OpenAI retires custom GPTs on 11 December. BleepingComputer
- Fake iPhone Duo preorder pages attack older iPhones just by opening them, so keep iOS updated. 9to5Mac
- WordPress core has no new security release since 7.1.2, but keep CVE-2026-87902 patched. WordPress News
- Cloudflare Threat Signals is free for every account and turns security reports into WAF-linked alerts. Cloudflare
- Google Analytics failed to load for about an hour on 29 September, and it is fixed now. Search Engine Roundtable
- Shop has moved from shop.app to shop.com, so update links in your bios and ads. Shopify Changelog
- Signal 8.30 brings encrypted on-device backups to iPhone, Mac, Windows and Linux. BleepingComputer
- Apple HomePad will reportedly launch on 13 October with a 6-inch screen and iMac G4 looks. 9to5Mac
You're all caught up
That's today's web, tech and SEO news. The next edition lands tomorrow morning, around 3 am Melbourne time.That was the news from Thursday 1 October. A newer edition is waiting for you.
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